Last month, British artist Finn Stone unveiled one seriously funky fashion accessory at the Affordable Art Fair in London: a pair of stilettos covered in hundreds of colorful little Lego blocks.
Stone, best known for his quirky design work in fiberglass furniture, told AOL News that he went outside the box with his latest art project because, frankly, he wanted to play with Legos. “I was never allowed Legos as a kid, so in a way, this was like going back to childhood. I got to act like a big kid while still creating art,” Stone said.
Stone is best known for his work with fiberglass furniture. Recently, he went out on a limb and tried his hand at designing accessories, including Lego shoes and hats.
“I like the idea of taking something serious like a pair of plain stilettos and turning them into something artistic and beautiful. The use of Legos is a throwback to youth.”
Besides his urge to play with toys as a grown man, Stone said the idea for his so-called “LEG-GO Stilettos” came about after rummaging through a drawer filled with random junk at his house.
“I always make stuff out of the rubbish I find in that junk drawer, and this time there were a couple of pieces of Legos in there. That sparked the idea to see what I could make out of them.”
From there, Stone said he ordered Lego blocks by the boxful and got to work stacking and gluing — and making his 2-year-old daughter rather envious.
“She couldn’t believe all of these toys were coming in the mail for me. She was very jealous,” he said with a laugh. “It was like getting to be a professional kid for a living.”
Stone said he used a pair of cheap, plain, black high heels as the base for his project and piled on the Legos using a “top-secret” adhesive mixture from his supply of art glues.
In terms of the pattern of the toy bricks, he said size and shape were everything.
“I used a lot of very small pieces because they’re better for going around the corners of the shoe and filling in odd spots. I’m not a huge fan of straight lines, but the square shape of the blocks seemed to work for this. I think the shoes ended up looking sort of pixelated and multidimensional.”
Although the stilettos were created first and foremost as an art piece, Stone said the heels are completely wearable. He said the Legos are securely fastened and won’t be going anywhere.
But the colorful kicks aren’t for sale just yet.
Stone said he’s only made a few pairs so far specifically for art shows — not for commercial purposes — though he’s not opposed to making more.
“If someone is really interested in a pair, they should contact me via e-mail and we can talk about it. I may just wind up making custom pairs for people and we can negotiate the design and price point,” he said. “If they want all red Legos or something like that, I could do that. I could also do this with their sneakers or kids’ shoes.”
At their recent art debut, Stone said the size 5 LEG-GO Stilettos were priced at about $2,600.
However, if he begins producing the high heels on a commercial level, Stone plans to significantly reduce that price tag so they can be affordable to the average fashionista.
Stone believes art buffs and “serious shoe collectors,” and maybe even a funky celebrity or two, would be the first to buy the heels.
“I think they’d be perfect for Willy Wonka’s girlfriend,” he joked. “Or someone who’s more daring in their fashion choices.”
Are you listening, Lady Gaga? Katy Perry? Nicki Minaj?
Meanwhile, shoe and fashion expert Meghan Cleary — author of “The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You” -– thinks Stone’s slippers would best fit Rihanna’s feet, given the pop star’s fun and youthful sense of style.
“We are seeing quite a few plays on form and graphics — Nicholas Kirkwood, Raphael Young, Jerome Rousseau — and lots of bold, asymmetric or unexpected heel shapes, as well as color blocking,” Cleary told AOL News of shoe trends in the fashion world.
“These [Lego shoes] definitely speak to that more architectural feeling — the idea of deconstructing a normally very definitive shape into something much more unusual; the idea of mixing up the line.”
Cleary thinks the stilettos could work on the runway of a “super-over-the-top” fashion show, though she doesn’t necessarily consider them to be high fashion.
Well, if Stone’s turn as an offbeat shoe designer doesn’t work out, the artist has a bunch of other Lego-laden accessories to fall back on from his spring collection.
Stone also used the kiddie building blocks to decorate a bowler hat, a baseball cap, a mini cowboy boot, a book and a small teapot, among other items.
At the rate he’s going, he might have to strike some sort of deal with the Lego company to keep the materials coming. Kids, hide your Legos.
